blanchard



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

, v. WjBLANGHARD.

FIRE ESCAPE. No. 295,723. Patented Mar. 25, 1884.

N. PETERS. Pnnebumngmpner. wmingmn. ne.

UNITED STATES PATENT @Erica Yvisait w. BLANCHARD, or Nnw roux, N. Y.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 295,723, dated March25, 1884.

Application filed January 2, 1883. (No model.)

.T a/ZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, VIRGIL W. BLANCHARD, ofNew York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes;

-and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

folded.

and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of thisspecication, inwhich- Figure l is a vertical section `ofra building,showing my improved fire-escape ladder applied to the same and folded upinside of a protecting-case. Fig. 2 shows the ladder un- Fig. 3 is anenlarged perspective view of two sections of the ladder. Fig. is a frontsectional view of two sections. Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section oftwo sections of the ladder. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through twoof the ladder-plates forming part of a ladder-section, showing theclaspingbrace and tie-bolt. Fig. 7 is a view of one of the slottedcoupling-links.

'Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in theseveralfigures.

The letter A designates the wall of a building, at the top of which is ahousing, G, having an openbottom and adapted to receive the ladder whenit is folded up, and thus protect it from exposure to the weather.

My improved ladder is made up of jointed sections A, of suitable length,connected together by means of links E, so that the sections can becompactly folded and elevated into the housing G. Each `section A iscomposed of side plates, B, of `thin steel, secured rigidly together inpairs by means of angular braces and stays C and tie-bolts c. Thesebraces and stays G are applied to the ends of each pairof side plates,B, and leave spaces between them v to receive grooved pulleys D D,around which pass the ropes F, by which the ladder is suspended, foldedup, and unfolded.

K'K designate the rungs ofthe ladder, each one of which-is composed of ametal rod, lo, inclosed by awooden tube, Z, which I iind to be superiorto metal for grasping and for stepping upon. The ends of the rungs K.terminate in angular or beveled Vtenons g g, which are rigidly securedto the plates B B, and which are adaptedto enter angular recesses c,

.as they straighten out.

formed in coupling-links E. 'All ofthe rungs K have the beveled tenons gg on their ends, and

A'is composed of folding sections and slottedcoupling-links, and thatwhen the sections are extended, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, fi, and 5, thetenons g g will all enter their respective V- shaped recesses c inthelinks, and thus lock the joints and form a practically rigid ladder fromone end to the other, and the rounds will not be deflected from avertical line beneath the limbs of a person ascending or descending.

The ropes F F are secured to the lowest sections A of the ladder, andpassed over and beneath the pulleys D in such manner that in winding theropes up the sections will alternately fold to the right and left, sothat when folded they will lie snugly together in the manner representedin Fig. l. The ropes FF are passed over grooved pulleys P, suspendedfrom the upper end of the housing G, and these ropes are connected to awindlass, J, near the roof of the building, which windlass is providedwith a hand-crank and a pawl and ratchetwheel. "When the ropes arereleased and the ladder `is allowed to descend, (unfold,) the tenons g gwill adjust themselves in their respective recesses c in coupling-linksE, `and successively lock the sections rigidly together During the actof raising or folding up the sections they will successively unlock andlie snugly together, as above described.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A folding ladder composed of folding sections A and coupling-links E,constructed as described, in combination with self-locking and unlockingdevices, constructed and adapted to operate substantially in the mannerand for the purposes described.

2. The' combination of folding sections A, locking coupling-links E,ropes F, and pul- ICO" all constructed and adapted to operate subleys D,all constructed and adapted to operate substantially in the manner andfor the purposes described.

3. The combination of the folding laddersections A', the slottedcoupling-links having` V- shaped recesses c c, and V- shaped tenons g gat the ends of the sections, all constructed and adapted to operatesubstantially in the manner and for the purposes described.

4:. The combination of folding ladder-sections A', formed of pairs ofplates B B, the V- shaped tenons g g', the clasping-braces C, theirtie-bolts, the pulleys D D, and the rungs K,

